Lagos State government buys new buses for intra city transportation in Lagos city.

The Lagos State Government on Thursday launched 30 new luxury buses for intra city transportation in Lagos.The government also launched 10 buses last week, in addition to the existing BRT and LAGBUS fleet of buses plying the metropolis.The latest buses were launched by the Lagos Integrated Transport Cooperative Society, LASITCOS, and TRANSMODAL Nigeria Limited.

Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, said that within the first quarter of 2013, more buses would be provided by other partners in the sector.Mr. Opeifa said that a major challenge facing the operators of the buses was the non-availability of qualified drivers to sustain and maintain the vehicles.

“The process of engaging a driver is very long and tedious and we have to go through this process because we do not want to go into the problem of the past.“The franchises have been going through this process to get the best drivers that would deliver the best to the people of Lagos State,” he said.The partners were given a `franchise certificates` by the Managing Director, LAGBUS Asset Management Ltd, Babatunde Disu.

Mr. Disu promised Lagos residents that under the franchise, they would enjoy better, reliable, comfortable and affordable transport services.

He said that although there were other commercial buses as competitors, there would be collaborative efforts to manage a good transport service to alleviate previous commuters’ hardship.

Mr. Disu said that the new buses would assist in creating jobs for some of the residents.He called on other private transport organisations to partner with the state government to improve the sector.

No picture of the bus? and how does it affect existing private ownership in the long run?. This franchise of a thing is more of a government granted monopoly over some certain routes or areas as stated in the article. So those statement of there will be existing commercial service providers to serve as competitors does not really work well in practice. They should have asked these private companies taking up this franchise service to employ those commercial drivers and conductors to avert problems in the future.

Slowly but surely, mass transportation in Lagos will be only about the red/blue buses, decent cabs, classy boats, fast moving trains and shuttle helicopters. Riding on a train should be cheaper than it is or will be to commute in a taxicycle aka Okada

All these danfo, costal and molue drivers better smell the coffee and wake up from their slumber. Lagos is heading towards the route of a planned city and it will surely go the direction of using bus contracts and franchise service for its public transport system.

They better organize themselves into small companies that can service some certain routes or areas by negotiating with the state or local government. They will soon be thrown out of the market if they don't act fast and before you know, there will be protest everywhere. I think Lagos state government should engage these existing commercial operators but i can see that it is headache for them to incorporate them due to their lack of education.

Anybody who has intention of investing in the transport system should better start engaging the state government now. I hope they don't give these contracts to their friends and close associates ooo. I have been thinking of running special bus services that doesn't exist yet in lagos state. Maybe its time self to look into these if someone can form a company and win some lucrative routes or areas in lagos state.

Please who knows the lucrative routes in lagos state where there are no private bus contracts yet and will not be serviced by BRT in the nearest future. What are the possibilities of providing a shuttle bus service around unilag and yabatech that transports students from their place of residence to the campus. I know that for Lasu, it will be possible to do that if most of the students live in Iba town, okokomaiko and environs.

So lets discuss about the implications of this new initiative by the government and how it affects the existing commercial drivers now ( danfo, costal and molue ).

It seems the commercial viable routes will be the first to be gulped as lagos state moves to a planned and well managed transport system. So i ask what happens to less lucrative routes?, will they be run under public service obligations and given a monopoly for this. What will be the implications of granting monopoly to lucrative routes and also if it is left to open competition then how do they prevent the operators from forming a cartel?.

We are all saying the same thing. I am celebrating an astute administrator with you who procured 30 buses for Lagosians from a 'minute' income of 30 billion naira per month. The same buses they will pay for each time they take a trip. By the way, who has ever seen the account books of BRT buses? Shhhh.... don't even talk about it! He is also organising end of year party which is nothing compared to the carnival that goes on in Calabar yearly but hardly seen as an achievement of the incumbent. Those are exactly why he is an excellent achiever, a perfect governor and a 'world class' leader who will make Obama feel inferior. Kudos to Fash!! Kudos to the internet propaganda arm. We all love Lagos. We love Fash too...lol

Pharoh: Please who knows the lucrative routes in lagos state where there are no private bus contracts yet and will not be serviced by BRT in the nearest future. What are the possibilities of providing a shuttle bus service around unilag and yabatech that transports students from their place of residence to the campus. I know that for Lasu, it will be possible to do that if most of the students live in Iba town, okokomaiko and environs.

So lets discuss about the implications of this new initiative by the government and how it affects the existing commercial drivers now ( danfo, costal and molue ).

U CAN TRY (Ijesha -Ojuelegba- Yaba- Unilag) route, its not yet serviced by private and wld neva av a BRT lane cos of the nature of the route...That would be a good business that wld kick out the Old coaster buses on that route.....u can train and employ those drivers and conductors in order to save their asses.....

1) The government tried what you are talking about in 2001 (I.e, the "City Bus project). They granted licenses to City Bus and other companies to run monopoly services in Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki. It didn't work. Area boys and agberos destroyed the buses. The franchisees could not provide enough buses. Basically, it brought chaos.

2) In planning the BRT system, the government took into account the lessons it learnt from the failed City Bus project.

A) Other commercial buses are not barred from plying these routes.

B) Molue and danfo bus drivers are part of a union called the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). The NURTW are franchisees in the BRT project. Basically, molue and danfo drivers are retrained to meet standards set by government. They are then given BRT buses to drive. The project is financed by some banks. The government guarantees the NURTW loan. It's a win-win situation for everybody.

While I search for my links to the City Bus stories, let me quickly explain what it was about and the difference between that and BRT.

City Bus was a creation of Cross Country Limited (an inter-state transport company) to take advantage of the Lagos transport franchise system of 2001. It was the biggest franchisee. The government banned Molue and danfo buses from Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki as part of the first phase of the project. The government planned to extend the ban to other parts of the state later.

The City buses were driven by tie wearing graduates. They were air-conditioned and neater than the molue and danfo buses.

However, (1) the fares were more expensive than the fares charged by molue and danfo buses. (2) there were not enough buses (3) the system denied area boys and agberos their daily bread.

Agberos and students of the Nigerian Institute of Oceanography and Marine Research attacked and damaged most of the buses and bus stop infrastructure. Commuters were left stranded at bus stops. Many people resorted to trekking because they could not afford the higher fares.

The government had to back down and allow the NURTW to resume operations in the restricted areas. Their buses were now painted green and white or plain white, rather than the old yellow and black colour. Eventually the system broke down and the old system resumed.

U CAN TRY (Ijesha -Ojuelegba- Yaba- Unilag) route, its not yet serviced by private and wld neva av a BRT lane cos of the nature of the route...That would be a good business that wld kick out the Old coaster buses on that route.....u can train and employ those drivers and conductors in order to save their asses.....

Thank you very much for your reply, never wanted to look into it because of the problems of touts, nurtw and existing commercial drivers as stated by naptu. I don't know how the route looks like but if a private bus company is not given monopoly over that route then it might not be lucrative. Competing with those guys will not be nice under the conditions you stated above but will they want to be employed by you instead of them running the statusquo as it is now?.

The University of Lagos Students Union (ULSU) runs shuttle services from within campus to Yaba and Bariga (they are the only ones allowed to run services within campus). Members of NURTW provide service up to the campus gate. There are also BRT services.